Hunger in North Carolina

North Carolina has one the highest percentages in the United States of children under 18 years of age who are food insecure on a regular basis: in N.C. almost 1 in 4. (24.6%)

Between 2010-16 North Carolina has regularly ranked among the top ten states with the highest percentage of citizens experiencing food shortages; over 1,764,000 of our neighbors or nearly one in six.

NC has several cities with some the highest levels of food insecurity in the nation: Greensboro, HighPoint,and Winston-Salem.

Approximately 160,000 different people in NC receive emergency food assistance in any given week. This is equivalent to feeding nearly every resident of Asheville, Chapel Hill and Elizabeth City every week.

North Carolina also ranks in the fifteen worst states in the percentage of childrenunder 18 who are lacking food on a regular basis.

81% of NC households receiving food assistance don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

36% of food pantries in NC have had to turn people away for a lack of food to give them.

73% of the NC households we serve have had to choose between paying for food or paying for health care or medicine.

75% of households served by food banks have had to choose between buying food and heating their homes.

61% of families served by food banks have been forced to choose between paying for food or paying for housing.

An estimated 22% of client households have a member who has served in the military; 6% have a member currently serving.

Data is from 2014 Hunger in America Study, by Feeding America and the Food Hardship in America 2015 Report from the Food Research and Action Center.